Alabama’s home affordability index broke another record in the first quarter of this year, hitting its highest level in 16 years, said the Alabama Center for Real Estate at the University of Alabama.

The Alabama Housing Affordability Index hit 210.4 in the first quarter of 2009, mainly as a result of falling interest rates, a drop in median home prices and an increase in median income for Alabamians, said the center.

The first quarter index is up from the five-year high of 182.5 in fourth quarter 2008, breaking all the previous records for the highest level of home affordability in Alabama.

“The Alabama Housing Affordability Index of 210.4 for the first quarter of 2009 means that an Alabama family which earned the statewide median income of $53,200 had more than twice ... the income needed to qualify for a loan to purchase the statewide median priced home,” said the center’s report.